Little Bit Yours 💜

Two

"Mama!"

Audrey grunts as she is attacked by her son, Braeden, leaping into her arms as she enters her parent's house after leaving the office. "Hey buddy! Did you have a good time with grandma?"

He grins, his big blue eyes peering out behind shaggy brown hair. "I did! We made cookies!"

She laughs, scooping him into her arms as she carries him into the kitchen where her mother, Nancy, was making dinner. She snags two cookies, handing one to Braeden with a wink as he giggles. She sets him back on his feet with a smile. "Go play in the living room so I can talk to grandma."

"Did you see him?" Nancy gets right to the point as Audrey takes a seat at the small kitchen table.

"Yes," she sighs, fidgeting with her hands on the table. "He works there, you were right. I wish I had known before I accepted the job. But it's too late now."

"Did you talk to him?"

Audrey scoffs, leaning back in her chair as she crosses her arms over her chest. "Just enough to find out that he's supposedly getting engaged."

Nancy groans, turning back to look at her from the stove for the first time since she entered the kitchen. "Oh honey, I'm sorry. Did you tell him?"

She shakes her head adamantly. "Sure, I went right up to him after not seeing him for almost five years and told him that I had a baby. His baby. I don't know if I should now. He seems like he's moved on. I don't want to stand in the way of him finally being happy."

Nancy chuckles, resting her hands on her hips. "You really think now that you're back here, that he's going to be happy moving on and marrying some other woman?"

"Yes?" Audrey shrugs, glancing down at the table. "We haven't seen each other in so long, mom. He's moved on. Doubt he ever thinks about me anymore, let alone still feels the same. He didn't even love me enough before to want to be with me. So why would he want anything to do with me now?!" She shakes her head and her hands simultaneously. "No. Maybe I'll tell him at some point, but not right now."

"You need to tell him. You can't keep his son away from him. It would be different if he was a bad guy, but he isn't. Whether you work out or not, you know he's a good father and will be one to Braeden."

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Audrey groans, resting her forehead on the table, knowing that her mother was right. Through all of Andy's faults, being a bad father was never one of them. But Jacob was grown and in college now, so she wasn't sure he would be wanting to start all over again. She hears her father coughing from his room down the hall and she exchanges a worried look with her mother. "How is he doing?"

"Not good honey." Nancy offers her a small smile before turning back to the stove to finish dinner.

***

Andy leads Lily into the restaurant he took her on their first date just over a year before. She was beautiful with long dark hair and dark eyes. She was a year younger than him with a five year old daughter, Allison, who he had grown to adore. He had grown to love them both and things had been going so great which is why he had a ring burning a hole in the pocket of his pants, ready to propose. He knew it was what he should do, what was expected of him; and it was the plan for months now. But now sitting across from her, he had an overwhelming feeling of suffocation.

"Andy?"

Her voice breaks through his thoughts as he looks up from the menu he was staring at to look at her and the waitress as they watched him. "Sorry. Can we get a bottle of wine? Thanks."

Lily rests her hand on his arm once the waitress walks away. "Are you okay? You seem kind of out of it."

Andy shrugs, looking back at his menu, actually reading it this time. "I'm fine. Just a long week at work is all." She doesn't seem convinced, but she looks away from him, back at her own menu. They sit in silence for a few minutes as he sat and tried to not think about Audrey, and those golden, amber eyes of hers, and the fact that he would be working with her again. When the waitress came back with their wine, they both ordered their food as Lily turns her attention back to him.

"So, what happened at work?"

He looks at her, offering a small smile, it being all he can muster. "Not much really. Just feeling a little overwhelmed."

"Sure." She smiles wide at him, running her thumb along his hand on the table. "Didn't you say they were hiring someone new? That should help with the case load, right? Have you met him?"

He clears his throat, leaning back in his seat as he pulls his hand away from her. "Her," he corrects her as he nods. "And yeah. She came in today and we had a meeting, and she was introduced to everyone."

"Oh." She nods, watching him as he fiddles with the edge of the table. "Was she nice? What's she like? How old was she?"

Andy shrugs, chuckling nervously. "What is this? Twenty questions?"

She shrugs, leaning back in her chair. "Just asking about your day."

He sighs reluctantly. "She's twenty-something and very nice. We didn't really get much time to talk." He knew exactly how old she was; twenty-nine. She had a birthday coming up soon, but he didn't want to give away too much to Lily. She already seemed overly suspicious and jealous. After hounding for a few more minutes, she seemed more at ease, and they fell into a comfortable conversation about their weeks while they ate dinner. Toward the end of the dinner, she seemed to become more and more anxious as the waitress came to ask if they wanted dessert. He could see Lily lean forward to order something, but he waved the waitress away with a smile. "No thanks. Not tonight. Just the check please." She looked disappointed before smiling again and he thought nothing of it until they arrived back at her place.

Lily turned to him with a hopeful smile as he pulled into the driveway. "Coming in?" She runs her hand down his arm flirtatiously as he sighs.

He moves slightly away from her. "Not tonight. I'm not feeling great, I'm sorry."

"Oh..." She bites her lip, nodding as she frowns, disappointed. "We should talk about moving in together again."

Andy nods." Sure." He gets out of the car and comes around to the passenger side, opening the door for her before leading her to the front door.

Lily pauses after opening the door. "Are you sure? Allison is at her fathers for the weekend." She wraps her arms around his neck, pulling his mouth down to hers.

He kisses her back but is too distracted to actually enjoy it before pulling away. "I'll call you tomorrow." He hears her scoff as he walks away from her still standing on the porch, but he is too in his head to care. All he can think about is Audrey and seeing her in the office today. He thought he would never see her again. His heart felt like it would burst out of his chest when he locked eyes with hers. He could tell she was uncomfortable as she shifted on her feet in front of him. She never used to be uncomfortable around him. It hurt to see her look at him with so much contempt and pain; that she hated him now. He never stopped loving her and he know he never will. But he had moved on. Or at least he thought he had...